Well, United get Berbatov, for a lot more than he's worth (IMHO). Berbatov gets to play in Europe...like he was ever going to sign for Manchester City, considering his stated reason for leaving Spurs was the absence of Champions League football.
Instead, Manchester City get Robinho. What's all that about?
Real Madrid president Ramon Calderon said Robinho, who called a news conference on Sunday stating again his desire to leave the Bernabeu club, had broken down in tears as he pleaded for a move.
"We have sold Robinho for reasons of a human nature and for sporting reasons," Calderon told Spanish television station Veo."The fact that he has accepted an offer from Manchester City says that he is not going for sporting reasons.It's an important sum of money. It's not the objective of Real Madrid to sell players, neither do we need the money, but for reasons of human and sporting nature, it has been decided this is for the best.It's a decision agreed by all the coaching staff, who understand it is best for the player and for the club.
(Coach Bernd) Schuster thought until yesterday that he could recover the player, but that has not been the case. Every time I have spoken with him he was very sad, crying and asking to leave Spain. Real Madrid are more important than any one player"
I love that bit 'not going for sporting reasons'. I have a lot of affection and respect for Mark Hughes, but, pur-lease, this guy could have joined any team in Europe. Chelsea were supposed to be signing him, then went quiet, 'not prepared to pay the asking price' - MoneyBags Chelsea? Would it be that Brazilian Big Phil Scolari knows something that Welshman Sparky doesn't? Tangentially, I doubt Sparky will be in the job for long - surely the Abu Dhabians will want to put their own man in place?
In my uninformed and barely evidenced opinion, Manchester City have paid a small fortune for someone really quite flaky. We shall see...
